The invention of this application constitutes an improvement to the invention of my prior pending patent application Ser. No. 62,452 filed June 15, 1987.
Containers such as paint buckets, and many other containers of various types, are processed by automated means, being placed on a conveyor belt, and automatically filed and capped. Such a conveyor operation is relatively critical, requiring very fine adjustment of the various parameters of operation for efficient processing. For example, plastic containers such as paint buckets, when empty, can be easily thrown out of position as they move along a conveyor belt around curves and the like. Some of the paint buckets can ride up on a paint bucket next to it, assuming a tilted configuration which may prevent effective automated filling of the container, with paint spilling over the edge of the tilted container.
Similarly, filled plastic or metal containers may be stored in warehouses in large stacks. Theoretically there should be no problem with this, even though the containers may be heavy. However, in actual fact, a container may tilt here as well, or the central portion of the stack of containers may sag slightly out of the plane of each level of containers in the stack, resulting in a focusing of the weight of the stack on one or more of the containers found therein. The result of this may be that such a container may rupture, ruining a substantial amount of the inventory and requiring disassembly of the stack of containers and a clean up operation.
In accordance with this invention, a container interlock system is provided to reduce or eliminate the problems described above. The containers of this invention may be carried in connected relation to each other on a conveyor belt, with their interlocking relationship preventing containers from tilting upwardly or downwardly, or slipping to the side as the conveyor belt proceeds around curves, preventing effective processing by automated machinery in the conveyor line.
Similarly, when filled containers of this invention are stacked, their interlocking relationship can maintain them in a precise location without shifting of position, so that the stresses of the load imparted by the stack of containers will not be focused on a single, individual container, resulting in its damage.
Additionally, it is often desirable to hold large, plastic buckets together, for example for transporting the empty buckets from place to place. Thus, it would be desirable if the empty buckets could be temporarily snapped together, so that a worker could pick up an arm load of them for easy carrying. With empty containers, weight is not the problem but bulk, and containers that temporarily lock together could be carried in large numbers by a worker, for example in a line of five or six adhering containers which can be carried by pressing with each hand the containers that are at the respective ends of the line.
Additionally, containers that temporarily lock together can be assembled into a locked, two dimensional mass such as a rectangular array of containers, four or five on a side for example, which can then be stored or moved around as a single mass until separation is desired.
By the invention of this application, a bucket is provided having characteristics to achieve any or all of the above objectives.